Cleddau

I am writing this after s1 (hopefully, there will be more to come).

As a lover of the great but underrated Hinterland (Y Gwyll in Welsh), I am so pleased to see so many of the cast (13 in all) reapper here.

It has been produced in the same style, dark and brooding with two leading characters with a past and a lot of undelying tension.

I have seen quite a few welsh dramas but have to say I didn't know Elen Rhys as she only had small roles in Hinterland, Hidden and Keeping Faith but I will certainly be checking out her other work as i did enjoy her performance here, There's a great, reliable support cast here. I do like Hannah Daniel (looking like a Welsh Niamh Algar) in this role after being a bit let down with her in Keeping Faith and the ubiquitos Elery Thomas is here again, showing another string to her bow.

The only let down for me is the ending but hopefully this is just leading us into a second series.

Just finished the English language version. Starts well, good cast, typical but credible murder mystery. Sadly many of these shows seem to be written without planning a proper ending so get lost in the woods. After a dozen red herrings it becomes obvious who dunnit. Why? There's only one person left! The ending is utterly ludicrous. Save your time by watching something better. The cast is excellent and do their very best to rescue this turkey from the mess it sinks to. You can actually see mike's in advance what's going to happen next. I feel sorry for the actors who have to wade through this bilge.

This is what you would expect from the BBC and others.

Usual array of suspects and diversions. Worth watching and probably not for watching in a binge, as you want time to digest.

The usual use of the weather to set scenes and move the plot on.

There is good complexity of character development and the dialogue is believable.

I do wonder if there is always doubt about those higher up,.

And of course the bloke with the glasses is a bit mysterious.

I do wish they made them call "Taser, taser , taser" when they use them, but you can't have everything.

Can you?

And no CGI or AI.

Nice.

And satisfying at the end.

Brits are pros at this - well-executed police procedurals. You can rely on them to have solid plotting and carefully planned dramatic arcs, capable actors, and three-dimensional characters with realistically grounded problems.

I enjoyed that the pacing wasn't rushed - however, the series could've been an hour shorter. (It annoys me that it appears "compulsory" nowadays to have at least 6 episodes for one story.) There were some unnecessary coincidences, and to be fair, all and all the series wasn't really that groundbreaking.

However, it was still a good binge with lovely Welsh scenery to boot.

The community of Pembroke Dock is rocked, when Abbi Rayner, a nurse is killed, twelve years after Paul Harvey was convicted for killing two other nurses, DI Ffion Lloyd is drafted in the head the case, along with DS Rick Sheldon, the pair know eachother well.

It's a very good, Welsh drama, there was enough here to make me want to binge watch it in two sittings, if you're a fan of Hinterland and Hidden, you'll enjoy this.

It's a typically murky storyline, with plenty of suspects, the obligatory friction between the two central characters, and there's the dysfunctional family.

I wasn't crazy initially about Rick and Ffion knowing one another, I felt that idea has been overdone, but it worked well in the end.

Episode three was the big turning point for me, I thought it was terrific, really had me on the edge of my seat.

You'll recognise so many faces, including Richard Harrington and Elen Rhys, but if you've enjoyed the aforementioned dramas, you'll recognise plenty more.

The acting is first rate, the whole cast perform so well, I'd have to make a special mention for Matthew Aubrey though, I thought he was terrific as Mel Owen.

7/10.